Wednesday, February 04, 2015

Bitter is an interesting, thus unexplored taste but author Jennifer McLagan had persistence, a keen interest and enthusiasm to write a book about it. In a lunch presentation at Book Larder, she explained why she likes bitter taste, what the most common bitter items and ingredients are and how we can add them in our daily cooking and eating habits.

All guests experienced a mini-lunch comprised of a Belgian endive and radicchio salad with anchovy dressing, a Brussels sprouts with chickpeas dish and an orange and oil olive pound cake as a dessert. I found the salad bitter enough but pleasant all the same; the Brussels sprouts less bitter and blending nicely with the chickpeas; the cake was not bitter really but I couldn't taste the sugar either.

I appreciate and like a lot the bitterness in a country that everything has more than enough sugar -natural and artificial. I am glad to find out McLagan's insights and tips on cooking with bitter vegetables and ingredients.Yes, you guessed it right, I am staring with Negroni, the quintessential bitter cocktail.